The performance of European stocks was tepid at the beginning of trading on Wednesday, and the momentum that pushed the market to rise at the end of last year began to lose its strength as investors awaited key indicators during the day that may determine the course of global monetary policy.
The European STOXX 600 index stabilized at 0810 GMT after it began the first trading session of the new year with poor performance on Tuesday. The index rose 12.7 percent in 2023, driven by increasing expectations of lowering interest rates.
Investors are awaiting the release of unemployment data in Germany and the Purchasing Managers' Index in Switzerland for the month of December. Focus is also on a basic report on jobs in the United States and the minutes of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting for the month of December.
Maersk shares rose 4.2 percent after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) raised its recommendation for the shipping company's stock to neutral from sell, based on an increase in shipping fees due to unrest in the Red Sea region.
Shares of the French information technology company Atos also jumped 3.1 percent thanks to plans to hold technical examination talks with Airbus regarding the sale of its huge data and security unit.
But shares of ASML, a maker of computer chip equipment, fell 1.3 percent for the second day in a row after the Dutch government partially canceled a license to export some shipments to China.
